53rd pday email from Albania!

Dear Precious Gems,

I Know that God lives. He really is our kind gracious Heavenly Father. He loves us more than we can even imagine. I testify that the power of the Atonement is real. Everyday we can start again and rise from our sorrows. I know that He is pleading every single day for us to come unto him. I know that as soon as we do, we began to truly see all that he has in store for us.

From this General Conference I learned so much. One of the biggest things from this conference I wanted to highlight was that as mortals we are not perfect and we can't see truly the big picture, but THROUGH the gift of the Holy Spirit we then begin to see the big picture. I know the spirit is a gift of revelation. It is a gift of tongues. I see it every single day as I teach here in Albania. I know that it is only by the spirit that The Lord's Work is able to go forth. I know that I am far from perfect and as a teacher I am striving more and more to be the teacher that my father in heaven needs me to become every day. But as I am striving every day to become the missionary he needs me to become, the spirit has been there and is with me and my companion as we teach. Together we become a powerful messenger for the truth.

This week, the Lord guided our path as a companionship and personally we have grown every day. An amazing thing from this week was with an experience we had teaching the Restoration. I know that it is through the knowledge of how Christ's church was restored again to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith, that we can gain a witness that we have a Father in Heaven and is constantly watching over us. He even sent his only begotten Son to come and suffer the pains and sins of the world, so that way he and his son could understand us PERFECTLY.

I have come to find that as we teach this truth and the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives, that Satan is most involved in having people NOT become aware of this nor gain that knowledge and that witness through the spirit that what we missionaries teach is true. That we are representing our Lord and Savior and Brother for these people. This week we had an experience of having great adversity with teaching the Restoration.

We are teaching this family of Gypsies. One day it was raining and really windy. I remember when we came into their home, there were a ton of neighbors who were there getting out of the rain. It was chaotic in someways. But throughout the whole thing Sister R and I kept a prayer in our hearts that we could be guided as to how the Lord needed us to teach this lesson.

As the lesson went on, there were moments where it felt as if the spirit was at war with Satan and kept coming and in out of the lesson through great adversity. But as hard as Satan tried, the spirit had triumph! Two experiences with this in the lesson was with Sister R telling the first vision, it was so loud in the house with the storm outside it was almost impossible to hear her say it, but over it all they could hear her voice over the storm just enough to hear the message that the Lord needed them to hear.

Another part was when I was reading the scripture in Moroni 10: 3 - 5:

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

As I was reading them this, the wind began to pick up and it almost seemed my voice was swallowed up in it all. I could not really even hear my own voice and began to feel slightly overwhelmed, when I felt a prompting... "Just read it loud and proud. When do you get to say it with such energy and strength this set of verses?" This gave me the confidence to do so with great confidence and boldness.

Sister R and I discussed afterward that we know that there was no mistake the weather was the way it was. Which caused a lot of people around the neighborhood to be in our investigator's home to hear this message. We don't know who needed to hear that message but we knew that the Lord was looking over his children. It was another witness of it.

I know that this gospel is full of miracles and wonders. I know that through Him and of Him the worlds are and were created so that we could come to earth to become like Him. He loves us more than we can comprehend. He is there. On our right hand and our left and His Angels are around about us. ALWAYS (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).

Our Father is so proud of us as we try every day. That is all that he is asking of us. To keeping trying and to never give up. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and that as we read it we can learn all that the Lord has for us to receive each day as we do so daily.

I know this Gospel is true. I am blessed to be part of this church. Everyday my eyes are open more and more that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the key to eternal happiness and every lasting hope.

Know that you all matter to him! He is always wanting to hear from us through sincere prayer. He is dying to talk with us! All we have to do is to get down on our knees and just talk with him. Anything and Everything! He will be our eternal friend that will never fail us.

All we have to do is just rely on him!

Me Dashurin,

Motra Bezas

Various pictures from Motra Bezas's beloved Albania...